1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording/reproducing apparatus having a plurality of recording and/or reproducing means for performing at least one of recording and reproducing with an information medium, and to an information medium transfer method for transferring a medium into the recording and/or reproducing means.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An example of such a recording/reproducing apparatus includes a plurality of recording/reproducing means, a medium stocking means (also called a stocker) for stocking a plurality of information media such as optomagnetic disks (so-called MDs), audio or video cassettes storing a tape-shaped magnetic recording medium in a cassette, or optical disks (so-called CDs and LDs), and a medium transfer means (so-called carrier) for selectively transferring a desired recording medium from the stocker to a certain recording/reproducing means.
The following is an explanation of a typical structure of such a recording/reproducing apparatus and the operation of transferring an information medium from the stocker to the recording/reproducing apparatus, with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8.
FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of the above-described recording/reproducing apparatus. A recording/reproducing apparatus 1 includes a stocker 3 for stocking information media 2, a first recording/reproducing means 4, a second recording/reproducing means 5, and a carrier 6. The carrier 6 transfers the information media 2 up and down or to the left and to the right towards the first recording/reproducing means 4 and the second recording/reproducing means 5 inside the recording/reproducing apparatus, and loads the information media 2 into the desired recording/reproducing means 4 or 5.
The operation of such a recording/reproducing apparatus 1 is explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 7. First, the desired information medium 2 is moved from the stocker 3 to the carrier 6 (Step S701). Then, the carrier 6 is moved to the height of the second recording/reproducing means 5 (Step S702), and the information medium 2 is loaded from the carrier 6 into the second information recording/reproducing means (Step S703). In the second recording/reproducing means 5, the recording/reproducing of the information medium 2 is performed (Step S704), and after the recording/reproducing is terminated (Step S705), the information medium 2 is moved from the second recording/reproducing means 5 to the carrier 6 (Step S706). Then the carrier 6 is moved to the height of the stocker 3 (Step S707), and the information medium 2 is moved from the carrier 6 to the stocker 3 (Step S708).
This operation sequence is performed with the control means as shown in FIG. 8, operating the carrier 6 to transfer the information medium 2 from the stocker 3, and randomly loading it with a selection means 6b into the first recording/reproducing means 4 or the second recording/reproducing means 5 to perform recording/reproducing.
There are also recording/reproducing apparatuses having a plurality of recordable information media, and first and second recording/reproducing means for recording/reproducing information, which select an information medium for recording information with an external controlling means such as a computer.
However, when information media are recorded/reproduced with a recording/reproducing apparatus as shown for example in FIG. 6, there is generally no criterion for deciding which recording/reproducing means of the plurality of recording/reproducing means should be used. Therefore, the use concentrates on always the same recording/reproducing means, which leads to the problem that one of the plurality of recording/reproducing means wears down faster than the others, thereby shortening the lifetime of the entire apparatus.
Also in the case of recording/reproducing apparatuses where an external controlling means instructs the selection out of a plurality of information media, such an instruction is not more than the selection of an information medium based on the remaining capacity for recording information. Consequently, it does not solve the problem of using one recording/reproducing means more than the others when recording/reproducing with these information media. Moreover, even if the external control means has the function to control the recording/reproducing apparatus and the instructions from the external controlling means include specifics on the recording and reproducing means into which the information medium is loaded, if the selection criterion is simply the usage order of the recording/reproducing means, and if there are differences in the amount of information recorded/reproduced in one recording/reproducing operation, these differences accumulate. Moreover, if the external controlling means is exchanged or disconnected, the information determining the recording/reproducing means with which a recording should be performed is lost, and the problem remains that a certain recording/reproducing means is used more than the others.
If, for example, a backup of data accumulated on a computer's hard disk is made with such a conventional recording/reproducing apparatus, after the long processing time for the backup, there can be the problem that failures of the backup processing occur due to some trouble with the recording/reproducing apparatus. Or, if recording is performed due to the programming, recording of the programmed programs fails due to some trouble with the recording/reproducing apparatus.